Classified staff show dedication to their work
Five classified staff members will be recognized today, April 3, for their outstanding contributions as part of the eighth annual Classified Staff Awards, which honor the very best of the university’s approximately 5,000 classified employees.
The Classified Personnel Office administers the awards. Supervisors or colleagues nominate candidates.
Mary Bauschelt, horticulturist
Mary Bauschelt has served the Department of Botany as a horticulturist for 21 years, showing leadership, grace and creativity, often under the time constraints set by living organisms.
Bauschelt’s skills were thrust into the limelight last summer when the now legendary titan arum, better known as the corpse flower, began to bloom, a phenomenon that attracted worldwide attention. With her supervisor out of town, Bauschelt helped manage media, souvenirs, staff and more than 20,000 visitors, in addition to her normal daily duties.
“Mary did this with the greatest aplomb and grace,” says botany professor Paul Berry, also Herbarium director. “I see her as a close and valued colleague, someone who could step up to the plate when needed and slug a home run in the bottom of the ninth.”
As an internationally recognized contemporary botanical artist, Bauschelt has organized a juried exhibition at Olbrich Gardens and volunteers as the director of the American Society of Botanical Artists. She is a co-founding member of the Association of Educational and Research Greenhouse Curators.
Ruth Duval, conference planner
Colleagues who have known Ruth Duval during her 22 years at the university say her commitment to customer service and graceful networking as a conference planner have enhanced the Wisconsin Union’s role as a central conference center.
Duval has implemented and improved a reservation system that has made it easier for Union staff to access and update information on room layouts, menus and other critical details involved in every event hosted by the Wisconsin Union.
In one recent challenge, the number of attendees at a recent conference doubled from 500 to 1,000 less than 24 hours before it was set to begin.
“Organizers call Ruthi because they have full confidence in her ability to plan outstanding events,” says Jane Johnson, the Union’s Central Reservations director. “She is creative, resourceful and fully understands our customers’ desires and needs, many times even before they do.”
In her free time, Duval has befriended and often assists a community member with special needs. She also contributes to upgrades and maintenance of a community playground.
David Rosol, farm equipment
As a farm equipment operator, David Rosol has always done everything in his power to ensure the job gets done, despite obstacles.
Thomas Wright, superintendent at the research station, says the station lost several employees just before planting season. However, Rosol volunteered to come in early and stay late to ensure the work was completed on time.
“He recognized the gravity of the situation immediately and reacted,” Wright says. “Dave stepped in and ensured that the station would complete its mission on time and in a manner that would guarantee the completion of all research projects and other station operations until such time that we could fill the vacant positions.”
Supervisors say that Rosol always remains unselfish and constructive, and maintains a “cheery disposition” when challenged.
Colleagues also say he shows tremendous patience and dedication when working with students and researchers.
Outside of work, Rosol is an officer with the local Knights of Columbus chapter. He helps with the group’s many charitable projects, including nursing home visits, highway cleanups, scholarships and basketball camps.
Mary Kay Sorenson, student status examiner
Mary Kay Sorenson is often the first and last person that chemistry graduate students talk to at UW–Madison.
She coordinates the chemistry department’s recruitment of graduate students and runs the career office for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students.
“Graduate student recruiting is the life-blood of our department, and Mary Kay is the key to its success,” says John Wright, Andreas C. Albrecht Professor of Chemistry and chair of the department.
When assisting students in their job searches, Sorenson helps students write r?sum?s and practice for interviews. She arranges on-campus interviews for more than 40 companies each year. Those same companies provide $100,000 annually in donations to the department.
Sorenson has worked within the UW System for 26 years. In her free time, Sorenson is a member of the Nature Conservancy. She recently returned from Nicaragua, and is now acquiring books for a new library there. She also seeks to provide English classes to Hispanic residents of her community.
Pat Whipple, academic department manager
Colleagues say Pat Whipple handles her complex and challenging duties with intelligence, good sense and humor.
Since joining the Department of Sociology in 2000, Whipple has designed and redesigned staff positions to address the changing needs of the department, including its increasing technology needs.
She helps ensure that staff members get training needed to succeed, often arranging professional development opportunities and retreats.
“She has a rare ability to nurture and develop talent in others, forming a staff that is skilled and able to respond to new demands,” says Adam Gamoran, professor of sociology and department chair.
Many of those same observations come from the Department of Political Science, where she served for nine years before joining the sociology department.
She helped the political science office team attain “high morale and a sense of common endeavor,” department chair Mark Beissinger says.
Outside of her work in sociology, Whipple serves as a member of the Association of Career Employees Executive Board, a position that allows her to provide input to the state Department of Employee Relations. She also serves on ACE’s personnel committee.